1st Tractor Input

Morning Everyone

My Name is Ed

I bought a new place with 3.8 acres and have lots of grass to cut
and fence to keep up and land to grade and level out and pond to clean out!

What i'm asking is your input on what is best tractor with loader to purchase to do this job? (FYI I think diesel would last longer than gas engine?)

Ed...

Just how deep are your pockets do you trust the new stuff to always be counted on to use,start and regulat maintenence or is it total dealer job.

Looking for used not new.

My opinion is something along the lines of a new medium size compact utility tractor. Small enough to mow with but big enough to do odd jobs with. Every dealer out there has nice financing options on them right now.

One of those new toy tractors? Like what Mahindra sells?

Allan

Cleaning ponds is a job for a backhoe or a dozer. Preferably a backhoe. Whatever you buy for a tractor and loader, has a lot to do with the quality of the local dealers, or dealer, as the case may be. Most of these small tractors marketed by the major manufacturers are made by someone else and can usually be purchased from the real manufacturer for less money. Find out who made it, and the parts availability and such before buying. You didn't give us a lot of input to work with here.

Buy a Ford. Skip the Ford N Series and
look for a 600, 800, 2000, 3000.
A loader tractor makes a lousy mowing
tractor so choose which one you need the
most.
Fellas here are gonna tell you you Gots to
have power steering and Live PTO.
They are nice to have but you don't Need
them.
Whatever you do, buy a tractor with
Factory 3 point hitch.

best stay out of the pond

Sounds to me like you need at least 2 machines. One heck of a good lawn mowing machine for the mowing and a tractor loader backhoe to use for countless other jobs. I'd stay away from the pond though ,anytime I got near one I got stuck. I guess it depends on how big and what kind of water source it has and if it can be drained and dried out. Might need to hire a LARGE reach excavator for that ?

With just 3.8 acres I would get a good zero turn for grass and a small tractor with loader. A tractor with backhoe won't have enough reach to get to middle of a pond if it is of any size and once you get everything done the backhoe will just sit.

I'm a case guy. A newer 430 with power steering is a great tractor. If you have a good JD Dealer in your area, a 1020 diesel or newer would be a treat. I have a 1630 with a 48 loader that is my main work tractor. It has 50hp. JD has a great hydraulic system and and finger steering even with a full bucket. Loader will lift over 2000 lb and the front end will take it.
Dave

since cleaning a pond is only seldom done just rent a track hoe and do it,of course depending on pond size. then he can do the
rest of the land work. there is lots of machines out there that can do this but all depends what's in your pockets. and its hard
to give info as one persons description is hard to go on without seeing the job.like a big job to one person could be a small job
for the people in that line of work. even a tracked skid steer like a kobota can do a lot of work and a good job. but of course u
need an operator.
as for the grass? is it lawn, quack, or hay? like need info before making desisions. u may need o turn mower, or 3 pt. rough
cut. i know a tracked skid steer can out do any tractor with a loader. but its about money again.

Consider a quick-tach style loader that can be removed or re-attached in under 5 minutes. Removing a loader when it's not needed really improves visibility and makes a tractor much more maneuverable in tight spots (both help when mowing).

Also keep in mind that most front end loaders are built for lifting and loading loose materials or manure, not for digging in hard packed soil. Using a loader like a bulldozer could bend or wreck a new loader fast. Try to use a 3 point hitch implement (like a moldboard plow) to loosen packed soil, then scoop it up with a loader.

Hiring someone to clean out the pond will save you time and money.

Enjoy your new place! Post some pictures too.

A Massey Ferguson 135 is also a good little tractor also. Pretty easy to fix, and parts availability is good on them also. To clean a pond you probably will need a totally different beast, or hire someone with a dozer, and or excavator for a day, or two.

If there is any water in that pond, you may as well get a Sludge Pump and Pump out as much mud as you can, then let the silt settle until it is NOT mud...

We have cleaned out 1 1/3 ac lake twice over the last 50 years and I KNOW what you get into...

We eventually used a Dozer to shove the muck toward the sludge pump, then, later to the Back-Hoe ( with an "Extend-a-Boom") on the bank, lifting the silt and mud out (hauling most away to other locations that could use it)..

There was over 6' of silt, after the water had drained out as much as it could and wanking in that was an UP-To-Your-Waist muddy stinking mess...
Had the Dozer stuck several times..
Even had our Late Styled JD "B" with loader and 6' blade in there shoving mud right along-side of the dozer quite a bit..

We dug a smaller secondary pond in the bottom, to save what fish we wanted to save, but most were Hybrids of catfish and Suckers, so they got pumped right over the dam..

It took about 4 years of careful grading of the mover silt, to get it graded..
The silt will only dry down about 2 feet and remain black mud, so ya have to be careful not to grade too much or you break through and get badly stuck..(How could I know that?)...!!!!
Had to Jack the "B" up and out several times..!!

The silt is GOOD soil, once it has dried...

My suggestion is to hire a Track-Hoe and Dozer and get it DONE the easier way....

For mowing, bigger is usually better..A 72" Woods (Finish Mower)on most any appropriate tractor or a 60" to 72" X-Mark will make mowing easy..

Ron..

Ops...should have been "WALKING" sorry..

little diesel with a loader, I'm going to have to go with a used Kubota. good machines, and there are lots out there for sale.
Some of the rich folks trade em in for a new one just like cars.
Loaders and such go on and off easy on modern tractors (all colors)
Me? why bother?, get 2 tractors, the loader Kubota...you will need the loader for...everything.
And the other tractor, Ford 3000, MF 135, or other brands equal, will do the 'tractor' work.

only one?....Biggest of the 'B' series or small 'L' series Kubota with loader.
(but don't rule out those little 'BX' series, with a loader and/or backhoe...surprisingly capable little machines)

what kind of dealer support do you have close to you? I would look seriously at something that you can get repair parts close to home. For gosh sakes stay away from those almost totally useless-- non starting 2-8-9 n fords

Thanks for all the great info!


What do think of a [b:27edfd79eb]Kubota L225 Tractor?[/b:27edfd79eb]